We just had a wonderful week with my parents, Bob & Brenda, as they came out to spend some time with us. From the moment they landed we were having fun and felt like we were on vacation, too. On the ride home from the airport Kenny started talking about all of the great Hamburger and Hot Dog places along the way and, of course, we ended up stopping at Tommy's for burgers on the way home.

On Saturday I fixed blueberry sour cream pancakes with a maple pecan syrup for breakfast. Then we went up to Mt. Wilson Observatory where you can see some of the oldest and largest telescopes. This is where Edwin Hubble worked and made his discoveries. The view from here is amazing, you can see all of Los Angeles and the other mountain ranges in the distance as far as the eye can see.

That evening we went to the Griffith Observatory, which sits in Griffith Park right above Hollywood. The observatory just underwent a 4 year renovation and was re-opened last November. Do you remember the James Dean movie "Rebel Without A Cause"? In the movie James Dean dies on the steps of the Griffith Observatory.

We were able to look through their large telescope inside the east dome and see Jupiter and its' moons. They also have many interactive exhibits, a planetarium, and a wonderful view of the city. As you can see, Dad sat and talked with Einstein while we were there.

On Sunday morning we went to church and Mom helped me out in my Sunday school class, teaching the 1st-3rd graders. Afterwards we ate at Figaro, a French bistro with wonderful food and a great atmosphere. Kenny and I are standing in front of their pastry display.

Kenny took off work Monday and we went to Santa Monica. We found some cute shops and ate lunch, then went to the beach.

I took Mom & Dad to the Grove on Tuesday. The Grove is an outdoor shopping mall with many nice stores, restaurants, and is attached to a farmer's market. We had lunch at the Marmalade Cafe and then walked around. The highlight for my Mom and I was visiting the American Girl Store, where we got to see the many dolls and their accessories, the doll hair salon, the cafe where you can eat next to your doll, and the theater to watch plays.

Later, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits, which are real tar pits that are being excavated to uncover fossils from thousands of years ago. It is known as the largest discovery of ice age fossils. We viewed a current excavation that is taking place and toured the museum.

On Thursday we had a cookout in the back and invited our neighbors. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with the kids. When it began to cool down we had apple cobbler and hot cider.

Friday was an exciting day, we drove down to San Diego and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Natural History Museum and the Maritime Museum. The Maritime Museum had several large boats to tour, including the Star of India, the HMS Surprise (which is the boat in the Russell Crow movie Master and Commander), a B-39 Submarine, and a few more.

It was very hard to say goodbye on Saturday. The week flew by very fast and, as always, didn't seem like enough time together. But we made some great memories!